Bengaluru,oct 17
New Zealand absolutely dominated the day two of the first Test against India at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswammy Stadium on Thursday, bowling out the hosts for their lowest score ever on the home soil and securing a fine lead with seven wickets still in hand.At the end of day two, NZ was at 180/3, with Rachin Ravindra (22*) and Daryl Mitchell (14*) unbeaten.NZ started the final session at 82/1, with Devon Conway 61* and Will Young 5* unbeaten.Conway and Young continued to build a partnership, with a fine placed boundary from Young on a Kuldeep Yadav delivery helping NZ reach 100-run mark in 27.1 overs.
Conway was attacking bowlers really well, but the 75-run partnership with Young came to an end with Ravindra Jadeja picking up Young for 33 in 73 balls, with five boundaries. Kuldeep took a fine catch at fine leg. NZ was 142/2 in 36.3 overs.
Rachin Ravindra was next up on the crease. He took the brunt of scoring runs and pulled out a couple of traditional strokes to perfection. His classic strokeplay effectively negated the threat Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj carried in the initial overs. With the Indian skipper back in the dugout with a score of 2, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal tried to steady the ship under gruelling conditions. ORourke silenced the crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium by extracting extra bounce off the surface with his bounce, taking Kohli by surprise. Sarfaraz Khan, who got his much-awaited opportunity, slapped the ball with the bottom edge of the bat. Tom Blundell dropped a straightforward catch, offering Pant and the Indian team a moment of reprieve. KL Rahul came in and was welcomed by ORourke by smashing the ball straight into the Indian’s glove. With Rahul rattled, ORourke came back in his next over to take the rewards for his efforts. With India itching to score runs, ORourke lured Rahul into making a blunder and tickled the ball down to Blundell’s left. With Rahul becoming the third batter to register a duck for India, Ravindra Jadeja became the fourth to enter the list.A miscued shot from the experienced southpaw was enough for Henry to show him the way back to the dugout for a six-ball duck.
Jadeja’s dismissal marked the final action of the first session as the umpires decided to call for lunch, with India’s scoreboard reading 34/6.
Brief Score: India 46 (Rishabh Pant 20; Matt Henry 5-15, William ORourke 4-22) vs New Zealand: 180/3 (Devon Conway 91, Will Young 33; Ravindra Jadeja: 1/28).
